2016-2017 HBCU Careers Magazine

HBCU Careers Magazine

that he spent months developing his speech for smaller audiences before he delivered the final rendition at the March on Washington. Words are powerful! Words describe and change how we view the world. In the workplace, words are used to influence others in a variety of ways. Depending on your career field, an employee can spend a vast majority of their day speaking, writing, and listening to others. Despite your natural-born abilities in any of the three areas of communication, you must practice daily to become better. Just remember, talent alone is not enough as you must hone your talent into skill. Skill requires hard work, persistence, and practice. Deliver-ing Karl “The Mailman” Malone is a great example to illustrate my final point. Karl earned the nickname “Mailman” because he delivered in game-time situations. One look as his statistics and you would agree. The Mailman is a 14-time NBA All-Star, two-time NBA Most Valuable Player, and second in points scored in the history of the NBA. By many accounts, he is considered to be one of the greatest power forwards of all time. To stand out in your organization, you too must deliver in game-time situations. To be know as the “go to” person, you must follow the creed “Do What You Say You Will Do”, in essence, your talk and your walk must line up. You have to build credibility with your supervisor and peers by, as what the Bible describes, being “Faithful in a very little thing is faithful also in much”. So, when you are assigned to complete a task by your supervisor, nomatter how trivial itmay be, performthe task in a timely manner and at the best of your ability. By following the principle associated with hair shampooing (wash, rinse, repeat), you will garner the attention of others and will be given the opportunity to demonstrate your abilities in a critical moment. Engaging in all of the five -ings may not grant you instant access to the corner office but you will definitely have a competitive advantage in your career field. Success can be described as doing a few simple things over a long period of time. These five simple practices will ensure that you achieve success regardless of how you define it.

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